Control means for power operated machinery



CONTROL MEANS FOR POWER OPERATED MACHINERY Filed May '7. 1943 l' 2sheets-sheet 1 I I EB O 6r C /7 ,s

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F 0 InvENTon MIKnuTzEn I BY mi kan V A'r'l' f June 12, 1945 M. T.KNuTzEN 2,378,304

CONTROL MEANS FOR POWER OPERATED MACHINERY Filed 'May 7, 1945 2Sheets-Sheet 2 InvENToR |`1.T. KNUTZ En IBy- ATTVS.

g Patented June 12, 1945 Y 'CONTROL MEANS FOR POWER OPERMEDV MACHINERY IMaxy 'I'. Knutzen,

signor to The John Bertram Dundas, Ontario, Canada,V as- & Sons Co.Limited,

Dundas, Ontario, Canada, acompany of Canada Application Mayl 7, 1943,Serial No. 485,965

1o claims. (cifras-e151);

This invention relates to control means forpower operated machinery suchas mine hoists.

The invention will be illustrated by reference to its application tomine hoists but it is tobe understood that such control means isapplicable mother elds. L n. v

`In power .operatedhoists for mines it is com-- mon practice to' operatethe brakes therefor by means of fluid pressure, i. e., oil or ain-whichis applied through' a suitablethrust cylinder and under controlv of acontrol valve unit feeding the fluid medium to or releasingit from thethrust cylinder, brake application being effected by release of thepressure in the thrust cylinder, the

A further object of the invention isto provide a simple mechanism-of-this kind wherein manual or automatic, operation may oneinterfering oreffectingthe operation of the other.

With these and otheriobjects in view, the. in-

ventionA generally comprises emergency control means VJfor brakeapplication in hoists and the like employing a brake f unit includingbrake actuating mechanism, a thrust cylinder operatively connected tosaid mechanism, and a control valve unit controllingsaid'thrust cylinderincluding'emergency means for venting the cylinder to applyfthe' brakes,and means actuated withsaidemer'gency means for accelerating its ipiston'l of which is actuated by meansof weights 'E' action` ieithermanually or by way of automaticv to apply the brakes on release yof theiluid contro'l."'l'l1eV invention 'will be ,clearly `under- DTCSSUQ! 1stood -by'lreference to `the following detailed It has also been thepractice to employfwith specification taken'inconjunction with the ac,

' such mechanism a safety controller such as the companyingdrawings.well'k'nown Lilly controller which responds to 20 In the drawings: l ioverspeed, loverwindan'd electric current failure; Fig-' l is adiagrammatic elevation of control to ydeenergize a-`solenoid operativelyassociated lrriechanismaccording to the present invention with thecontrol valve unitr which automatically illustrating thegeneralassociation of a thrust vents the ythrust cylinder irrespective oftheseto cylinder-of control mechanism with the brakes ting ofthenormaloperatingjvalve of the con- "5 of aihoist for their operation asrequired, and

` trol yunit and thus yoperatesto apply thevbrakes includingillustration of the emergency 'mechay in the case lof vany suchemergency. It'has beenk vnism according to the presentinvention. Ausual:alsoto employ with such mechanism a o Fig; 2 is a plan-view ofFig. lillustrating the clutch operating'mechanism for engaging` or disgeneralposition of rparts ofthe mechanism and engaging Vthe clutch ybetween theshaft and `the 30 illustrating in addition the association of a sec-l.drum, such mechanism being sol controlled vthat ond thrustcylinderwiththatillustrated in Fig.'

the clutch may not be disengaged from the lfor the operation oftheclutchofthe hoist. drum until the brakes have been operatedA to fully l lFig;v3- is' an enlarged side elevation of y the appliedA position. f Iemergency'mechanism generally illustrating the The presentlinvention'hasto do-.vvithcontrol 35 connections formanual or automatic operation.mechanism which may be applied -to hoistsin Fig. 4 is a further enlarged`fragmentary de'- o thev above lmentioned"manner or to other power tail'of the accelerating mechanism without the v operated devices whichrequire control of'ths general operating connections. nature. andwhereas it employs' the principles" of Fig. 5 is a top plan view of Fig.4;' and suon prior devices, it avoids` disadvantages of the 1U l Fig. cvis a section token through the supportlatter.'v In particular, itvrelates toautomatic ing means'fory the accelerating mechanism illus-|-emergencymechanism 'that may be manually trating the latter in endelevation. A operated-o1- automatically operated for causing Referringto the drawings, and first of all to thev control mechanism to actinstantaneouslyv Figs. land 2,"A'indicates a hoist drum mounted in any'-case wheresuch valve might tendtostick 4f on a shaft I0 driven from anysuitable-source of or be: sluggish/thusaccelerating the action ofpowerto rotate thev drum. Thel drum is `couthis' valve or, in` otherwords, making it positivev nledto the shaft I0 by means of a suitableclutch under such conditions. 1I. Associated with the hoist drum' isbrake f It is, therefore, an' object of the present invenmechanismBwhich includes brakes I2 designed tion to provide. a simple positiveacting mecha- .5o to `bedis'lmsed onkveach sideof the ldrum in op- 'nsmwhich'may be operated manually orautonosedy relation.r (one side notillustrated) the mati'cally 'to cause positiveV action ofthe controlbrakes being operatedA throughwthe levers I3 andv valve uni-t in cases"where, it might stick orv act I4 which connect throughv suitable linkstructure sluggishly. y 55 illustrated'by thedotted lines I5 and I6 withthe mainfbrake operating'le'ver I1. `The levers I3 be effected without nand I4 are link connected beyond their points of fulcrum with theopposite brake, the link connection being illustrated by the dottedlines I8.

The main brake operating lever is fulcrumed as at I9 on suitablebrackets 20 and the links I5 and I6 connect with this main lever onopposite sides of the fulcrurn I 9 so that if the main brake lever I1 isswung downwardly, the brakes will be applied to the drum from each sidewith increasing pressure.

The main brake operating lever l1 is controlled by the unit C whichcomprises a thrust cylinder 2l having a piston therewithin which israised by uid pressure which operates the cross head 22 connected withthe rod 23 of the piston, the latter being lowered by gravity throughweights such as 24 (see Fig. 2) which are connected with the cross head22. The fluid for raising the piston is passed to the cylinder 2I bymeans of the fluid control valve unit D, the operation of which will bedealt with in detail hereinafter.

The cross head 22 is connected with the main brake operating lever I1 bymeans of the link connection 25 which pivotally connects as at 26 withthe free end of lever I1. Thus, if the piston within cylinder 2i islowered by release of iluid pressure thereunder, themain brake operatinglever will through the links I5 and I6, levers I3 and I4, and linkconnections I8 apply the brakes to the drum A. Conversely, when theiluid pressure is again applied beneath the piston and it is raised toposition the brake lever I1 in normal position shown in Fig. l, thebrakes will be fully released so that the drum may be rotated.r

The operation of the thrust cylinder 2l is controlled through thecontrol valve unit D which includes the valve plungers 21 and 28, therst one controlling the inlet to the valve for the uid medium and itsdischarge to the fluid cylinder 2 I. The second valve plunger is for usein emergencies such as power failure, overspeed or overwind of thehoist, and may vent the cylinder 2| to an outlet through the valve unitso as to permit the piston therein to be lowered through the` weights24, thus to apply the brakes to the hoist or other apparatus that may beinvolved.

The valve plunger 21 may be manually controlled through the shaft 29 andoperating lever 33, -connection being made to the valve plunger 21 bymeans of the link 3I pivotally connected as at '32 to an arm 33 rigidlycarried on the shaft 29. Thus, by lowering the plunger 21 throughoperation of the lever 30, the inlet may be closed and the outlet openedso that the iluid pressure in cylinder 2I is vented. Likewise byreturning the lever 30 to normal position, the uid may again be suppliedto cylinder 2I and the outlet from the valve unit D closed.

The plunger 28 is normally held in upright position permittingcommunication to the cylinder 2| and it is maintained in this uprightposition through its connection with the core 34 of a solenoid 35. Thesolenoid is always energized during operation and connected in circuitwith automatic control mechanism such as the well known Lilly controllerwhich, in responding to 'overspeed or overwind of the hoist, will causedeenergization of the solenoid, in which case the valve plunger 28 wouldbe released to drop to a lowerposition closing off the iluid supply andventing cylinder 2l to the discharge outlet of the valve unit D withconsequent application of the brakes. To provide against any possibilityof sluggish action of the emergency plunger 28 or sticking of thisplunger, a special means isvprovvided for accelerating and/or makingpositive the action of the emergency plunger 28 when it is released bythe solenoid 35. In this connection, the core of the solenoid 35 isprovided with an upwardly projecting standard 36 formed by two parallelspaced apart strap members 31 longitudinally slotted as at 38. Thisstandard projects between the spaced apart supporting plates 39 whichare connected with the unit C to suspend and mount the solenoid. Atransverse shaft 46 is journalled between the'plates 39 and extendsthrough the slots 38 of the standard 36. On this shaft between the strapmembers 31 is rigidly secured a cam member 4I designed to be swung aboutits transverse axis upon. rotation of the shaft 43. The cam member 4Inormally is in the position as illustrated in the drawings and the camface 42 is designed to coact with a pin 43 extending across between thetwo strap members 31.

In this connection if the shaft 43 is rotated in an anti-clockwisedirection, the cam face 42 will contact with the pin 43 and by reason ofthe fact that the shaft 46 is mounted on the stationary supportingplates 39, the standard 36 composed of the spaced apart straps 31 willbe forcibly projected downwardly. Rotation of the shaft is effectedthrough a gear 44 keyed on the shaft 46 and disposed on the outside ofone of the plates 39. ThisA gear is designed to mesh with a quadrant 45pivotally mounted as at 46 on one of the plates 39 and is actuated bythe integral lever arm 41.

The cam 4I is designed to be actuated through the Lilly controlmechanism (shown diagrammatically as E, Fig. 3) or manually and this iseffected in the following manner. The link 43 is pivotally connected asat 49 to the lever arm 41 and at its opposite end is pivotally connectedto an arm 53 whichis keyed on a transverse shaft 5I. The shaft 5I isplaced in connection with the mechanism of the Lilly control E by meansof an arm 52 keyed on this shaft and extending at an angle to the arm5U. Arm 52 has the link 53 pivotally connected thereto at one end andthe other end of this link is slotted as at 54 and connects with thebell crank lever 55 by means of the pin 56. The opposite end of the bellcrank lever is pivotally connected to a link 51 which in turn connectswith a movable member of the Lilly control mechanism E.

Consequently, under emergency conditions such as overspeed or overwindwhen the Lilly control mechanism E' comes into operation, the link 51will be pulled upwardly and the bell crank lever 55 turned on its pivotso as to pull upon the link 53, thus rotating shaft 5I and moving thearm 5U downwardly. This in turn through link 48 causes lever 41 to bepulled downwardly, swinging the quadrant 45 to rotate the gear 44. Thecam 4I, therefore, is rotated and the cam face 42 forced with increasingpressure against pin 43, thus accelerating the downward movement of theplunger 28 through the standard 36. At the top of the standard 36between its spaced apart strap members 31 is a downwardly projectingstop boss 58. This is disposed just above the graded or stepped surface5S of the cam 4I and when the standard 36 is moved downwardly throughthe engagement of the cam face 4I with the pin 43, the stop boss engagesthe graded or stepped portion of the cam which governs the downwardmovement of the standard and connected valve plunger 28.

To provide for manual operation of the cam 4|r so that anV operator rmaybefable to accelerate the downward movement ofthe plunger 28, ythe shaft5I -carrifesan arm "60 which islinkf'connected by thelink 6|' withthelever arm 62 of a hand lever-'63. Consequently "by pulling vupon thelever 63,! the shaftl is rotated as in the case of its operation by theLilly control mechanism E, but dueto the fact that the link 53 isprovided vwith the slot 54, the consequent lostimotion will permitmanual lol'neration of this mechanism' through the lever 63'v withoutinterfering with thesetting of the Lilly control mechanism E. Infthisway,-therefo`re, by a simple combinationof elements,` I am able toacceleratevthe downward'movement ci the plunger 28when its' is releasedVby the solenoid, whichgoperation -is eiected either through the Lillycontrol mechanism or manually.` By means of ra weightedlever 64rigidlycarried onthe shaft 5|, the emergencyacc'elerating"apparatus isA`returned to norf mal' position.

In operation let us assume that-a condition of emergency has arisencausing emergency mechanism to function and the Lilly control mechanismmight be in such adjustment that the rapidity of brake application mightnot be coincident with requirements. In such, a condition the cage orskip of. a mine hoist might be travelling beyond its predeterminedpoint. This sit-l uation, however, can immediately be met by theoperator, by operatingl thev emergency hand lever 63 to accelerate theapplication of vthe brake through downward movement of the plunger`28,

by the cam 4|, pin 43 and standard 36. In this connection thel stepoperation 59 of the cam engaged by thel stop boss `58 controls theoperation'to effect relatively graduated brake application to avoidtoorapid application of thebrakes and consequent undue stresses. y

On the `other hand, if the viscosity ofthe oil, in the cylinder 2l, dueto temperature changes increases, eiecting operation of the'valveplunger 28 so that the valve opening is not suicient to.

provide for as rapid application of the brakes as required, the valveopening can be enlarged at the will of the operator by use of theemergency lever 63 as above explained.

Complete emergency control is therefore provided by the present'invention and the addition of auxiliary valving means for emergencycontrol and consequent complication of the system is.

completely avoided. l

It is,'of course, absolutely essential that vthe clutch should not'be`disengaged from the drum at any time unless the brakes are in fullyapplied position. In this connection, the clutch is operable by unit Fconnectedby fluid pipe 65 with the unit C so that unit F may not operateuntil unit C has eiected a predetermined operation or, in otheriwords,`the application of the brakes to full on position. This vforms thesubject InatvYW'hat I claim as invention is:

Control means for brake 'applicationv in hoists and the like comprisinga brake unit including brake actuating mechanism, aA thrust cylinderoperatively connected to said mechanism and a control valve unitcontrolling said thrust cylinder including emergency means for ventingthe cylinder to apply said brakes means connectedf-with said emergencymeans for positively accelerating the action of the latter and meansVfor independently returning said accelerating means to normal positionfollowing'opera- 2. VControl means vfor brake application in hoists andthe like comprising a brake unit including brake actuating mechanism, athrust cylinder operatively connected torsaid mechanism and a controlvalve unit controlling said thrust cylinder including emergency meansfor venting the cylinder to apply said brakes, automatic controlmechanism for actuating the emergency means means in connection withsaid automatic control mechanism for positively acceler-l ating gthe"actionof said emergency means and means for independently returning saidaccelerating means to normal position following operations.

3. Control means for brake application in hoists and the like comprisinga brake unit including brake actuating mechanism, a thrust cylinderoperatively connected to said mechanism and a control valve unitcontrolling said thrust cylinder including a gravity operated emergencyplunger for 'venting the cylinder to ap|ply said brakes, and means foraccelerating the gravity operation ofV said plunger when said emergencymeansis caused to function.

4. Control means for brake application ink hoists and the likecomprising a brake unit including brake actuating mechanism, 4a thrustcylinder operatively connected to said mechanism and a control valveunit controlling said thrust cylinder including a valve for venting thecylinder to apply' said brakes, means normally maintaining said Valv'ein a position to maintain pressure within said cylinder, means operableat a predetermined time fiory actuating said valve tovent` the cylinderwhereby to apply said brakes means operatively connected with said valvefor positively accelerating the action of the latter and means forindependently returning said acter of a copending application SerialNo.485,964

led May 7, 1943, now Patent 2,353,246, July ll, 1944. The clutch isconnected by suitable mechanism with the unit F so that it may beoperated when the unit F comes into function.

By provision of the simple mechanism clescribed, postiive control of thebrakemechanism is always available either throughthe automaticcelerating means to normal position following operations.

5. Control means `for brake application for hoists and the like asclaimed in claim 4 in which the valve is connected with rod meansprojecting from the valve casing, said accelerating means including acam and means for rotating said cam to engage said rod meansunderpressure.

6. Control means for brake application in hoists and the like comprisinga brake unitincluding brake actuating mechanism, a thrust cylinderoperatively connected to said mechanism, and a control valve unitcontrolling said thrust cylinder, including a valve for venting thecylinder to apply said brakes, said valve including a valve plungerprojecting from said unit, cam meansy operatively engaged with saidplunger, automaticcontrol mechanism for actuating said valve and meansconnecting said automatic control means with said cam for acceleratingthe action of said valve upon oper-ation of said automatic controlmechanism.

'7. Control means for brake application in hoists and the likecomprising a brake unit including brake actuating mechanism, a thrustcylinder operatively connected to said mechanism and a control valveunit controlling said thrust cylinder including a valve normallypositioned to place said thrust cylinder under fluid pressure, saidvalve being operable to vent said cylinder to apply said brakes, asolenoid normally energized to maintain said valve in fluid pressuresupplying position, automatic control mechanism for actuating VsaidValve, said automatic mechanism being in circuit with said solenoid,said automatic mechanism deenergizing the solenoid uder predeterminedconditions to release said valve and means operatively connected betweensaid automatic mechanism and said valve for accelerating the action ofthe latter upon deenergzation of said solenoid 8. Control means forbrake application in hoists and the like as claimed in claim 7, in whichmanually operable means is provided for accelerating the operation ofsaid valve and independently of the operation of said automatic controlmechanism.

9. Control means for brake application in hoists and the like as claimedin claim 7, in which the means for accelerating the operation of saidvalve includes a cam operatively connected with said valve, means forrotating said cam and link means extending between the operating meansand said 4automatic mechanism for operating the cam upon operation ofsaid automatic mechanism.

10. Control means for brake app-lication in hoists and the like asclaimed in claim 7, in which the means for accelerating the operation ofsaid Valve includes a cam operatively connected with said valve, meansfor rotating said cam and link means extending between the operatingmeans and said automatic mechanism for operating the cam upon operationof said automatic mechanism, said link means including a lost motionconnection and manually operable means for accelerating the operation ofsaid valve, said lost motion connection causing' manual acceleration ofsaid valve independently of said automatic controlmechanism,

MAX T. KNUTZEN.

